GFCF & Fast Food: Are French Fries Safe?

Q: Are French Fries Gluten & Casein Free?
A: Yes, No, Maybe, So?

French Fries...fried potatoes.
Obviously gluten free, right? Wrong!

Fact: Fries are not always gluten free nor casein free.

My son loves french fries. He is a french fry eating machine. He loves Ketchup. Heinz ketchup is gluten free. This is a good thing, because my son goes through the giant bottle of ketchup from Costco in just a few weeks. A couple of days ago he joked that he was going to dip his sister in ketchup and eat her. I love his sense of humor.

But, are french fries "safe" or a violation of the GFCF diet?

Fast Food French Fries:
One concern with fast food dining, as well as any dining out has to do with the food preparation process. Potatoes don't contain gluten but toss them in same fryer oil that has been used to sizzle up chicken tenders or flour coated onion rings and its a whole different story.

Wendy's: Wendy's fries are not on the Gluten Free List. According to their nutrition guide they may be cooked in the same oil as products containing wheat, milk, egg, or fish.
Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: soy, canola, cottonseed, partially hydrogenated soy and/or cottonseed), Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate (color protector), Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Dextrose. Cooked in Vegetable Oil. Note: may be cooked in the same oil as Fish Fillets and French Toast Sticks (where available), Crispy Chicken Nuggets, Crispy Chicken Patty. Seasoned with Salt.

McDonald's: McD's fries contain wheat and milk.
Ingredients: Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*), citric acid (preservative), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent). * CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients).

Burger King: Previously, the Burger King website stated that their fries are cooked in common fryers which are used for egg, fish, and milk and they are noted as containing wheat.

Update on 5/12/09: I want to note that Burger King has updated: their fries are cooked in a dedicated fryer http://www.bk.com/#menu=3,3,-1

Ingredients: Potatoes, Soybean Oil or Canola and Palm Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Potato Dextrin, Salt, Leavening (Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color.

VERDICT: With the exception of Burger King (at this time). Fast Food fries are generally NOT GFCF safe.

Even at Burger King I would specifically ask to find out of they are using a dedicated fryer or not since there are so many other fried foods there that the risk for cross-contamination is high.

French Fries from the Grocery Store
The fries you buy in the freezer department of your grocery store have a wide range of ingredient concerns: Obvious concerns like wheat and milk. Usual suspects like soybean oil (if you are soy-free also). Pesky hidden offenders like "natural seasoning" or "beef flavoring" - who knows what is really in here? Aaargh! Deciphering ingredient lists can seem so daunting at times.
Maybe the best thing to do is to just "make your own", after all if you make it yourself then you really know whats in there. I've done it before and it was pretty easy.

Directions to make gluten & casein free french fries:

1. Peel up a few potatoes
2. get out my Pampered Chef Crinkle Cutter and cut them all up pretty
3. fry up in your oil of choice (I use Canola).
4. Add salt (or not)
5. Serve (after cooling)

Easy, but time consuming to prep and somewhat messy to clean up, plus I always burn myself when I fry anything. For these reasons, I personally buy the bagged frozen fries after inspecting ingredients. Believe it or not, many times the lesser expensive "store brand" (I like Wegmans brand) are the 'safest'. My son also loves the Ian's AlphaTots.

Instead of frying, I opt to bake them in the oven making them ever so slightly more healthful (who am I fooling, this is a french fry!)